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Weikie album ‘Murder Came Before The Word’ out now!
“If you’re a fan of stripped back, atmospheric folk, then strap yourselves in and let Weikie take you on a journey.” - Artrocker
Weikie has released his second album, Murder Came Before The Word, via Function Records.
Artrocker are currently streaming the album in full, and you can also stream and buy it now via Weikie's BandCamp page.
You can also download album track 'Vixen' for free via Weikie's Bandcamp page.
Weikie (pronounced ‘why-kee’) is Adam Weikert, multi-instrumentalist, music technician and member of Her Name Is Calla. Adam’s sound is undoubtedly folk, steeped in Americana but with an ear for modern songwriting and production techniques. The result is an album that could sit proudly beside contemporaries such as Bright Eyes and Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties. He arrived at his sound almost in reverse, using classical, computer and minimalist music as a starting point and absorbing and adapting them into the shape present on the album. It’s less a sound of the past as it is the sound of a future reverted back to a pre-industrial era, with pre-programmed instruments blending seamlessly with clawhammer banjo and electric guitar. It’s a fascinating take that’s sure to appeal to both traditionalists and those with a hunger for the new.
Murder Came Before The Word is the follow up to his EP The Sapling From Ash. The title of the album is a reaction to society’s tendency to scapegoat creative media as the surrogates to violence and ill will. It suggests that evil can sometimes be intrinsic and solitary, that it came before we’d even given it a name. The album is an exploration of the personas of the self, and how they are reflected through the world. The first four tracks are an allegoric exploration of the impacts of war, fidelity and loss across several generations of a family reeling from the Great War. Following this, Adam then allows the listener to peek inside his soul as he attempts to parse and understand the every day world.
Murder Came Before The Word is released via Function Records and available to buy on CD and MP3 via Weikie's BandCamp page.
Idlewild receive Tartan Clef Award!
Idlewild picked up the King Tut’s Songwriting Tartan Clef last weekend at the 16th Annual Scottish Music Awards.
"It's a great honour to be recognised for our songwriting over the years and especially by such an important and progressive organisation as Nordoff Robbins," stated Idlewild guitarist and songwriter Rod Jones. "Many thanks to them and the King Tuts panel who voted for us".
"As a thankyou Idlewild will be offering a few prizes to people who have pre-ordered the new album from Pledge Music. These include 5 pairs of signed posters, a set of signed vinyl of their first 3 albums and a few pairs of tickets to the UK show of your choice. Winners will be picked at random over the next 2 months from anyone who has pre-ordered or pre-orders the record before the draw dates. The first draw for posters will take place on December 18th with vinyl and tickets to follow through January."
Idlewild have also announced two new dates for their European Tour, which will see them heading over the Irish Sea and taking the stage at The Academy in Dublin and The Limelight in Belfast.
Check out the teaser trailer for the album via Idlewild's YouTube channel.
The band’s eighth studio recording represents a new chapter, both personally and creatively. Produced by the band’s guitarist Rod Jones and mixed by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.) whom they collaborated with on their 2002 release The Remote Part and augmented by new members Luciano Rossi (piano, organ & vocals) and Andrew Mitchell (bass, guitar & vocals), Everything Ever Written is Idlewild’s most eclectic output to date. The album features twelve tracks of alternative rock woven together from strands of Scottish folk, Americana & Hebridean psychedelia.
Lead track ‘Collect Yourself’ premiered on Steve Lamacq’s BBC 6 Music show and is available as an immediate download exclusively with album pre-orders.
All European tour dates are listed below.
27th February - Luxor – Cologne
1st March - Lido – Berlin
2nd March - Knust – Hamburg
3rd March - Bitterzoet – Amsterdam
7th March - O2 ABC – Glasgow
8th March - O2 ABC – Glasgow
10th March - The Institute – Birmingham
12th March - The Ritz – Manchester
13th March - Roundhouse – London
20th March - The Academy Dublin - Dublin
21st March - The Limelight - Belfast
Everything Ever Written will be released on 9th February 2015 in the UK on digital, CD and vinyl. These and a limited, deluxe edition with exclusive live acoustic tracks recorded during the band’s recent Highlands & Islands tour will be available for pre-order from www.pledgemusic.com/idlewild.
Bloc+Music release Ensemble Vol.2 Part 4!
"Delete U2 and fit this on a playlist instead."
The Sunday Herald
Bar Bloc are delighted to announce the release the last of their four compilation CDs via their Bloc+Music label, available to buy now via Bandcamp. This final instalment sees them team up with the TYCI collective, collaborating with them to curate a femme-centric compilation album featuring tracks from Tuff Love, Ruby, and Patricia Panther.
TYCI is a collective run by women who care and want to make a difference. Run by a handful of artists, musicians, bloggers, writers and producers in Glasgow, TYCI is a website, zine, radio show, podcast and live event series promoting all things femme, with contributors now based across the world.
A stream of the compilation premiered on The Quietus, and you can also stream the album in full from the Bloc+Music BandCamp page.
The compilation is the culmination of the venue hosting some of the best up-and-coming artists in Scotland and beyond, and is the perfect showcase for a venue and label that has been renowned for cultivating grass roots art in Scotland. Bloc was recently nominated for an Unsung Hero Award at the Scottish License Trade Awards due to its initiatives to help the wider musical community in Scotland as well as deserving social causes. Indeed, Bloc have helped local bands by subsidising a touring van which is loaned to musicians at cost price (non-profit) enabling bands to tour and perform their art on a financially sustainable basis. As well as this, their label Bloc+Music is run on a non-profit basis to allow Scottish musicians to release their music without having to kowtow to the practices and pressures of major labels. This has seen the likes of So Many Animal Calls, Campfires In Winter and Felix Champion thrive and allowed them to progress their musical career at their own pace and in their own image.
Bloc’s DIY ethic is worn firmly on their chest and has aided not just the music community but the creative sector in Scotland in general with the backing of DIY label StruggleTown as well as Hay Man!, TYCI and Ment1 He1th, all of which carry the work of young Scottish artists and authors who have been instrumental in highlighting political and social issues to the wider Scottish community.
Bloc+TYCI Ensemble Vol.2 Part 4 is available to buy digitally via the Bloc+Music BandCamp page.
Introducing… The Marks Cartel
The Marks Cartel kick off the new year with the release of their debut single, Curtain Call, on 23rd February 2015 via Hamill Records.
To get a taste for their sound, stream and download single b-side 'Where Do I Go?' from The Marks Cartel's SoundCloud page.
Curtain Call is an evolved and raw take on the British rock sound, with dirty, grimy guitars blaring from the speakers, rhythmic, snapping drums and grizzly, emotive vocals. You can here the bands influences shining through as they take elements of Oasis, mix it with a smattering of The Arctic Monkeys before blending it with a hint of Royal Blood. There are no bells and whistles here. This is unashamed rock and roll at its very best.
The Marks Cartel, who are comprised of Matt Turner (vocals and guitar), Kristian Tabram (guitar and vocals), Rhodri Allcock (bassist and vocals) and Emyr Lewis (drums), formed in 2013 when Matt and Kristian advertised for a bassist. Rhodri had never played bass before, but because he seemed like a nice chap and shared the same interest in music he was bought a bass guitar and told ‘You are now a bassist’. Rhodri and Emyr already knew each other,
being 2 of the 6 people who live in the village of Cwmllynfell, and his drum playing had become the stuff of legend in the village. They then spent the next year rehearsing, a band without a name just out to perfect their sound, eventually settling on The Marks Cartel.
Since their inception, they’ve been on a number of adventures, sharing broken bones, stolen phones, and missing drummers mysteriously turning up 58 miles away from their last confirmed location. In short - they’ve been having a great time gearing up for their latest single.
Over the coming months the band will be playing a sold out show in Swansea on 5th December, followed by official single Curtain Call's release early next year before the band head back into the studio to record in February 2015.
Curtain Call is released 23rd February 2015 via Hamill Records.
Feldspar release single ‘Hang Your Head’!
"...for fans of epic and heartfelt indie."
- Gigwise
Feldspar have released their final single of the year, Hang Your Head. The single is the fourth and final instalment of singles that support their Compass tour.
The single premiered on Clash Magazine's website, and you can now stream it via the band's SoundCloud page.
You can also watch Feldspar perform their single live in their latest video for the Croft Sessions.
Previous single Cure For The Night premiered on Shout4Music, while Song Without a Chorus premiered on Gigwise, with the accompanying video premiering on Artrocker. You can stream and download the single for free via the band's SoundCloud page and watch the video on their YouTube channel.
To get you into the Christmas spirit, Feldspar have also put together a nifty little online advent calendar for their fans to enjoy every day until Christmas!
Hang Your Head deals with politics, greed and corruption all wrapped-up neatly in Feldspar’s signature graceful vocal harmonies and elegant melodic framework. As singer Will Green sings out ‘every house was an investment for the lucky few who ruled the street’ he’s telling us about the most important message in the song. ‘It’s anger at the way a select few have turned the most basic of human needs, having a roof over our heads, into a way to get rich and thereby suppress the rest of the population,’ Green explains.
There’s also a second message here though, one about apathy and how society is distracted by the media, following consumerism religiously instead of looking up around us and dealing with what’s important. It may sound like heavy stuff but Feldspar’s beautiful songwriting makes this hard pill easier to swallow.
Although the four singles together don’t tell an overarching story, they demonstrate the band’s concern with songs that explore different sides of the human condition: heartache, lust, mortality, and anger.
Feldspar’s ambitious plan to release a single a month combined with their Compass tour is a glimpse into how far the band have come since their inception just over two years ago when Will Green, Ben Lloyd-Evans, Woody Feldwick, James Forster and Jonny Burgess first started performing together.
Catch Feldspar live on the final leg of the Compass Tour at the dates below:
5th December - South Devon Arts Centre - Totnes
6th December - The Prince Albert - Stroud
7th December- The Old Firehouse - Exeter
Hang Your Head is out now via Green Tape Records and available to buy digitally via iTunes.